Huntington will use All-Star break to Pirates’ advantage

For the final time before the second half of play begins, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington met with reporters to discuss various topics.

On pitcher Gerrit Cole’s health and ideal return date: “We’ll see how he responds and bounces back. Ideally, we’ll get him back soon after the All-Star break if he can, but if he needs another one we’ll get him another one.”

On pitcher Jameson Taillon’s health: “He’s doing great. We had planned on giving him 10 days around the All-Star break, but the opportunity presented itself to give him a longer downtime.”

On pitcher Tyler Glasnow, who recently made his first major league start: “Another opportunity to use the All-Star break to give a guy a breather. We loved what we saw, but there is still some work with the fastball. If you talk to him, he says he has the worst breaking ball he’s had in two years, so he’s looking forward to getting a good one back again. He’s certainly a viable option for the rotation looking forward.”

On a possible dilemma at first base between rookie Josh Bell and John Jaso: “Josh Bell has made it look really easy. It’s been really fun to see the offensive progression from Josh. Defensively, he’s still a work in progress at first base. John Jaso has reminded us that it can be done and made to look really easy. … It’s a good thing to have more players than roster spots, and we look forward to keep Josh going and developing.”

On whether the recent winning streak has affected the Pirates’ trade deadline mindset: “It hasn’t. We were strong that our intent was to add for the sixth consecutive season. We had the downside in 10-11. You always prepare for the downside, but the intent was always to add — and how we could add. We knew we had an incredibly tough stretch from the last series of May to the first series after the All-Star break. In a perfect world, 6-20 isn’t how we wanted to go.”

On pitcher Dovydas Neverauskas, who made the All-Star Futures Game: “It was identifying many of the traits we look for in the draft. It was a frame we believed would turn into a strong body, the way the arm worked, the life to the fastball. We knew there was some aptitude and drive in there. It’s taken a bit of time because of the lack of baseball experience, but we believe the arm will continue to grow and develop. It would be a great story of he continues to develop the way that he is, but he’s put himself in position to be an option at some point.”

On catcher Francisco Cervelli’s injury return: “We have to get him some at-bats and get him ready to come back here after a month of not facing major league pitchers. They’re good, they’re in mid season form. The legs, catching and throwing, he’s been able to keep a lot of that, but the ability to battle major league pitchers isn’t easy. Our history is, offensively, it’s really tough for guys to jump back in and compete at the highest level without some time against the next highest level. Francisco has done everything we could’ve asked of him, but it’s very different to simulate nine innings of catching. We’re going to have to protect him some coming out. This is not a guy I would anticipate going out there for 8-of-10 or 9-of-10. It will make the decision between Chris Stewart’s progression or the decision between (Erik) Kratz and (Eric) Fryer an important one for us.”

On shortstop prospect Kevin Newman: “He’s getting into his legs a little bit more and driving the ball. He’s done it in a way where he commands the zone and continues to keep the swing simple using the middle of the field. To be in Double-A his first full season out and swinging the bat the way he is is great. A great job by our guys in the amateur scouting side, but another guy that’s had a terrific season.”